Kyoto, Japan｜Hachidaime Gihey

We had the autumn dinner set with a tasting sake set. All the flavours were very refined with a focus on the rice as the winner of this whole dinner experience. Leftover rice was made into onigiri for you to bring back. Each diner also get a small nicely packed rice as souvenir with instructions on how to cook it perfectly.

We made a lunch reservation to avoid having to queue and it turned out to be a great decision as it seems very popular among the locals although dining is limited to 50min. The crispy burnt rice (okoge) is only served with the second bowl of rice but this can be requested separately if you can't finish any additional rice. Overall, it was a great dining experience and I'd recommend a visit if you're in the Gion area!

While looking for lunch in Gion we saw this queue and decided to check it out. It was a very long wait in the sun but the staff provided umbrella and iced towels which was great. When we finally got in after an hour it was well worth the wait. The interior was small, cosy and had an antique feel with large glass windows looking over to the temple opposite. The order came immediately as we had ordered while in line. The food was excellent especially the rice and it went well with all the dishes. Our second order of rice came with a bit of burnt rice which was crunchy and yummy.